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Broken Dreams: How Trump's Ford Deal Ended Villagers' Goals

Demonstrations sparked across Mexico after Ford decided to pull out investment from the country in favour of US. Photo: EFE/Mario Guzmán

Broken Dreams: How Trump's Ford Deal Ended Villagers' Goals

When Ford announced that it was withdrawing from a $1.6bn car assembly plant in Villa de Reyes, the dreams of prosperity of many of its villagers faded away. Today, that half-finished factory sits idle, gathering dust in the desert, reports the BBC.

Broken Dreams: How Trump's Ford Deal...

January 25, 2017

The sparsely populated communities and dry valleys of Central Mexico are far from Washington DC, but since Donald Trump has been elected, their lives are more dependent than ever to what is decided in the capital of the US. Especially, when it comes to decisions about the car industry, which employs thousands in the region.

So when Ford announced that it was withdrawing from a $1.6bn car assembly plant in Villa de Reyes, the dreams of prosperity of many of its villagers faded away. Today, that half-finished factory sits idle, gathering dust in the desert, reports the BBC.

Jesus Oliva, for example, had worked on the site for six months when the entire workforce was told they were fired one morning. He knows that for the next four years, life will be tougher than he'd hoped.Jesus lives in the shadow of the abandoned Ford construction, in a community of around 500 families. "Many will immigrate north or go to other places to try to build their lives. We need jobs here too so people can live honestly. I think that's where the delinquency and crime comes from - having no work."